News Alert: MojoHost Funds Woodhull Freedom Foundation and EFF to Fight Texas Age Verification Legislation

Thanks to MojoHost’s generous donation, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation is joining this critical case.

We are proud to announce that we’ve donated substantial funds to support the Woodhull Freedom Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation fighting to overturn Texas’s unconstitutional age verification law. On 16th May the foundations submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court supporting the constitutional challenge led by the ACLU, the Free Speech Coalition, and other advocates. The filing is requesting the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision which if left unchallenged, would significantly impede free speech online through Texas’s H.B. 1181 mandate.

The amicus brief highlights that the mandatory online age and identity verification required by H.B. 1181 infringes upon First Amendment rights as established by longstanding legal precedent.

Brad Mitchell, President and CEO of MojoHost shared: “As a parent, business owner and web host for 25 years I can’t remain silent while our constitution is violated in the name of child protection when I know for a fact that this bad legislation puts both our children and rights as Americans in peril. I am proud to support Woodhull and the EFF’s efforts in seeking this writ of certiorari. The action of inhibiting free speech does nothing to protect our children, it will only result in elevating worse content such as CSAM, copyright theft, and abusive materials from other jurisdictions outside of the United States where enforcement is impossible and viewing is freely available. It was a no-brainer to financially support these great organizations in combating outright speech suppression.”

Ricci Levy, President and CEO of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, stated, “We rely on the Court to ignore misinformation and, instead, rule based only on the law. The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized the significant burden and risk created by requiring users to verify their age and identity to access protected content, rendering such requirements unconstitutional where less restrictive alternatives exist. In Ashcroft v. ACLU, the Court reaffirmed that the government cannot impose age verification on adults in the name of protecting children.”

She added: “If the true goal of these measures is to protect children from material that isn’t age-appropriate, which we fully support, other less intrusive options are already available to accomplish this goal – and must be used in order to protect the rights of adults. But if the real goal is to block adult access and shut down the adult content currently available, and if the Justices allow that to happen, then Democracy as we believe it to be is dead. A big thank you to MojoHost for donating the necessary funds to defray the legal fees and costs of filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Corey Silverstein, of Silverstein Legal, is also supporting the fight. His statement: “Texas’ age verification bill needs to be stopped in its tracks and I am hopeful and confident that the justices of the Supreme Court will utilize their wisdom and grant certiorari and give the petitioner the opportunity to present its case as to why the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has made such a terrible error.” 

​​Lawrence Walters of Walters Law Group commented, “The outcome of this case, if accepted, will have a monumental impact on freedom of speech, data privacy, and First Amendment law. We remain hopeful that the Justices will decide to grant certiorari and invalidate the blatantly unconstitutional Texas age verification law. I am grateful to be a part of the stellar legal team that drafted the amicus brief for Woodhull and EFF.”

By generously funding the Woodhull Freedom Foundation’s legal efforts, we are championing the protection of First Amendment rights online. Our commitment ensures that adult access to legal content remains unrestricted by intrusive government mandates, emphasizing our dedication to upholding democratic freedoms because That’s Good Mojo!